South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Image credit: Mining Indaba
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told a virtual 2021 Investing in African Mining Indaba that mining production had an" impressive recovery" following the phased return of mining activity after they eased one of the world's strictest lockdowns.
"As a signal of the extent of the disruption earlier in the year and the scale of its recovery, the industry recorded quarter-on-quarter growth of 288% in the third quarter of 2020," he said.
"Higher production was mainly due to increased activities in the platinum group metals, iron ore, gold, manganese ore and diamonds."
Ramaphosa also lauded the "positive" working relations between government and the mining industry as one of the reasons that contributed to the mining industry's ability to weather the storm.
"This is something we should continue to build on," he said.
The South African president also said that there is a need to adapt to the realities of the COVID-19 era, provide greater policy certainty, attract higher levels of investment and protect livelihoods at the same time.
"To ensure that we increase the contribution of both mining and energy to meeting our developmental aspirations, we have taken significant steps to resolve policy and regulatory issues that investors have identified previously and raised with us as constraints to greater investment," he said.
Mining accounts for about 8% of South Africa's GDP.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
